


Absence and Reunion

by black_tea



Series: Garak and Bashir: Related Works [5]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Love Bites, M/M, Masturbation, Sex, dirty messages, missing each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:26:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1674659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/black_tea/pseuds/black_tea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julian has been away, and it's starting to wear on Garak -- the return trip is simply taking too long for his liking. To make up for his absence, Julian sends the Cardassian a rather personal message. Obnoxious customers are also dealt with, and Miles needs his pants hemmed (and has a minor epiphany of his own).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Absence

Julian lay on the narrow bunk in the cramped confines of the runabout and stared at the ceiling. He pictured the blackness of space spattered with pinpricks of light from distant stars rushing past as the small craft flew towards home. He enjoyed away missions. They provided opportunities to see new places, and learn and experience new things, but he also missed life back on the station. It was a funny turn around from the years he had insisted that his career would always come first and romantic relationships would take a pale second place next to Starfleet. In short, he never expected to become a homebody. Well, ‘homebody’ might be a bit strong, but there were some things back home, and yes the station was home now, that after time away he began to yearn for.

He missed his partner’s dry wit and fascinating if not strictly truthful anecdotes; the feel of strong hands resting on his shoulders or brushing against his back in the day-to-day dance of intimacy and affection. Here he lay with no one beside him. There was no expressive ridged face to kiss, no soft tummy to pet. _Soon. We will be home in a few days._ Julian opened his mostly closed eyes as a wicked thought occurred to him. Why not send a message to his love? Why not indeed?

 * * *

Garak let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding in an explosive sigh of relief. His patented customer service smile had been so tightly plastered to his face he thought is might crack. He found that his customers tended to fall into one of three categories: those with good taste who were pleasant to work with; those with poor taste but enough sense to take his advice; and those with no taste, no sense, and a thoroughly obnoxious attitude to boot. So far that morning Garak had spent far too much time with the latter.

He glanced over the list of changes his customer wanted him to make to the designs and then at the fabric and shuddered. It was a _terrible_ color choice with too large and busy a pattern for so small a woman. She would be completely overwhelmed by it. _If they absolutely insist on being eyesores, what can one do?_ Unfortunately, shoving annoying people out of airlocks was frowned on by station security.

To top things off, Julian was somewhere traveling through the void of space that lay outside of the station’s protective walls. His Human being away always made everything feel off kilter. He neatly stacked the drawings in his ‘to do’ pile and tried not to fret. Though, sometimes Garak felt Julian could use a little less altruism and a little more ruthlessness when it came to keeping himself safe from harm, he knew intellectually that Doctor Bashir was an adult in the company of other adults and could take care of himself. However, no matter what he thought rationally, there was still a small corner of his brain that insisted on coming up with morbid and ridiculous ‘what if’ scenarios – undoubtedly the curse of an imaginative mind.

Still, however out of whack the universe might feel at the moment, Garak had plenty of work to get though and he began prioritizing his orders. The ugly dress for the obnoxious woman was unfortunately a rush job even though he would much rather start on the jacket made from that lovely plum and gold brocade. He set down his PADD and looked up as a customer entered his shop. He quickly put his customer service smile back on, but blinked in surprise to see that the man standing in the doorway was Chief O’Brien.

 * * *

Miles had been drinking his coffee that morning when Keiko walked in carrying a pair of pants. “Good morning. What are those?”

“Your trousers that need hemming.” She said, dropping them on the sofa beside him. “They’ve been sitting out for how long?”

Miles shrugged, unable to attach any particular importance to a pair of pants. His wife favored him with an exasperated look. “You have the morning off, right? Why not go take them to Garak?”

He paused with the mug halfway to his mouth. “What? Garak?”

Keiko sighed. “Yes, Garak. The _tailor_. That is his job, you know.”

“But, Garak.” Miles said again in mild protest. “I’d really rather not. It’s no big deal, anyway. They’re just pants.”

“Pants that are way too long. They look ridiculous.” She studied his face for a moment. “This isn’t because he and Julian…”

“What? No! He’s just creepy is all.” Miles struggled to articulate what his problem with Garak really was. Creepy, untrustworthy, _Cardassian_. That pretty much summed things up to _him_ , anyway. Somehow he doubted Keiko was going to buy it.

“Really, Miles? It won’t even take that long. Finish your coffee and go.”

He considered further protests, but knew that they would ultimately be futile. The look on his wife’s face made it clear that she wasn’t going to accept his excuses, and telling her he had the day off effectively backed him into a corner. “Oh, all right.” He finally said with his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“You’d think I’d asked you to invite a ship full of Jem’Hadar for dinner. They’re just pants!” she muttered as she left the room to check on Molly.

Knowing that he couldn’t avoid the inevitable, Miles decided to get the whole awkward affair done with as quickly as possible. He snatched up the offending garment and strode out muttering under his breath and hoping for some minor emergency that would call him away. Nothing of the sort happened and he soon found himself entering Garak’s shop.

Miles knew that there were some things in this huge, ever changing, and often strange universe that he would never understand. His friend’s attraction to the Cardassian tailor happened to be one of the bigger mysteries he had  encountered. Why choose this scaly, vaguely sinister, male Cardie when there were so many attractive and vastly more trustworthy females living on the station. To be fair, he was far more concerned about the Cardassian part than the male part. Though he couldn’t imagine being attracted to another man, he rationally understood that this was not an uncommon phenomenon and not that big a deal. _Cardassians though, and a Cardassian one time_ spy _?_ He of course would never dream of saying this to Julian who would not only be hurt, but would ignore him anyway.

If Miles found himself uncomfortable and vaguely surprised to find himself in the shop, Garak looked equally startled – for about half a second, before he got his innocent I’m-just-a-simple-tailor expression back in place.

“Ah, Chief O’Brien, what a surprise. What can I help you with today?” he asked pleasantly enough, though his air was still slightly harried, the set of his shoulders tense.

Miles held up the pants. “I just need to get them hemmed, or at least Keiko thinks I need to get them hemmed.”

“That’s an easy enough request. Go put them on, and we’ll see how much length we need to take off.” He gestured amiably towards a changing room. Miles wished fervently that Garak could simply, he wasn’t sure, eyeball it, perhaps? But no, if there was any way to draw this whole silly process out and make things even more awkward it would happen.

A few minutes later he was standing while Garak turned under and pinned the cuffs. He was really beginning to hate this particular pair of pants. He wished Julian were here – then he wouldn’t be required to directly interact so much. _Julian…_

He glanced down at the man who was carefully going about his business and something clicked into place. It was a small thing, and Miles wasn’t even entirely sure where it came from – he certainly didn’t know Garak well, and there were more perceptive people than himself on the station. Still he couldn’t help but notice (perhaps due to his own nervous hyper aware state) that Garak seemed unusually tense. The Cardassian didn’t usually have trouble playing whatever role he felt like taking on, but his mask seemed to be slipping a bit today.

“Do you know when Julian is getting back?” He asked mostly to break the silence and partly to see if he was right.

“They should be arriving sometime tomorrow, if everything goes well.” Garak replied.

Miles couldn’t help but hear the slight pause between ‘tomorrow’ and ‘if’. “I’m sure it will. I always worry when Keiko and Molly are gone to Bajor. I know it’s the right thing for Keiko, for us, really, but it’s still hard.”

Garak looked up from where he was placing one of the last pins. “I imagine that would be difficult.” he said. “Especially with your child gone as well.”

Garak was beyond Miles’ ability to read, but something about his expression seemed a bit more genuine. _He’s probably lonely and worried._ He thought, surprising himself. Miles had a difficult time assigning such descriptors to the tailor, but then that too was undeniably unfair. Whatever else Garak might be, and it would take a great deal to convince Miles that Garak was anything but trouble waiting to happen, it didn’t necessarily negate the Cardassian’s ability to care about Julian’s wellbeing, and the two did seem genuinely, if bizarrely attached.

“Well, then. That should be about right. Your wife was right you know, these were much too long.” Garak straightened up and set the container of pins on a table where it was unlikely to end up knocked over.

“She usually is.” Miles admitted, which drew another more relaxed smile from Garak. He went with some relief to change back into this old properly fitting pants.

“They should be done in a few days.”

“Thanks.” Miles nodded before gratefully leaving the shop. The whole experience was just as uncomfortable as he had thought, but different too. He walked back to his quarters with the feeling that things he had thought he’d known had been subtly rearranged.

 * * *

The lunchtime Garak allotted for himself was nearly over, and he glanced at his PADD before he started to create the pattern for the hideous dress. “Oh!” he exclaimed with some pleasure as he found a message from Julian waiting for him. “They must be fairly close then.” He couldn’t help the feeling of relief that trickled through him. He opened the message, deciding the dress could wait five more minutes.

_We’re heading back now, and though it’s been very interesting, I’m more than ready to get home. I’ve been rather bereft of interesting discourse. I’m afraid Worf just doesn’t cut it as a conversationalist._

“That’s because he’s a Klingon, my dear. If you want to brawl then you need a Klingon, but if you want interesting conversation, then you need a Cardassian. We do excel at that.”

_I really miss you. Sleeping alone feels so strange now…_

“Agreed.” It was amazing how used to Julian’s presence he had become, especially when it came to their shared bed.

_…curling up against your naked body sounds heavenly. Though, to be honest, I can think of some other, better things to do with you besides sleeping. You have no idea how badly I want to taste you, and not just your mouth, though that’s a good place to start…_

Garak’s eye ridges rose. _So that’s where this is going. I should have known._ He thought as he saved the message for later perusal when he truly had privacy. As much as he would like to know where Julian intended to put his mouth, and he had a few ideas as to where that might be, it would not do to become all hot and bothered when he had customers coming in and out and horrible dresses to work on. As it was he could feel a flush beginning to spread through his ridges. He wondered if Julian had thought about that when he had written what was undoubtedly quite a pornographic message. _Probably_. Garak sighed with mock exasperation, though he was really quite pleased.

 * * *

It was late before Garak made it back to his quarters. He had accomplished far more than he thought he would. Although he hadn’t been in the mood to spend his evening sewing, he knew he would be very glad of it tomorrow when he wouldn’t be feeling overwhelmed by orders. He ate a light meal and fussed with this and that, allowing himself time to unwind – time he usually spent reading with Julian sprawled across his lap.

Finally he climbed into bed and propped himself up comfortably and opened Julian’s rather licentious message from earlier.

_You have no idea how badly I want to taste you, and not just your mouth, though that’s a good place to start before moving on to your neck – particularly that one scale, yes, you know exactly which one I’m talking about._

Garak’s hand rose half consciously to cover the spot in question, his fingertips gently brushing over the sensitive scale and thinking rather wistfully of the nibbles and licks Julian liked to bestow upon it.

_I’m sure it’s in need of some attention by now. And how I’d like to drag my lips and tongue across your smooth belly and down… of course there will need to be a detour in order to pay my respects to the ridges on your hips. I do know how you love to be bitten there; you make the most splendid sounds._

Garak half closed his eyes for a moment as a pleasant and familiar heat began to spread throughout his body. He ran his fingertips over his chest and middle and thought how nice it would be to feel Julian’s hot wet mouth against his skin and his teeth against his scales. Like most Cardassians he possessed an exceptional memory, and remembrances of the Human doing exactly those things sprang effortlessly to mind. He groaned softly as he firmly kneaded and squeezed the smaller ridge on his hip.

_I’ve always thought it a shame that you can so easily leave love bites on me, yet your scales preclude me from doing the same to you. However, I do think your inner thighs would look quite beautiful so adorned, and there are no scales there. Would you like me to suck little bruises into your skin? I could start just above the knee and work my way up._

Garak decided he was quite in agreement with Julian’s suggestion, and his only complaint was that the doctor wasn’t naked with his head between Garak’s legs at that very moment.

_Ah, what’s next then? I know, if I were with you right now I would be nuzzling against your sheath. Just the scent of you is enough to make me hard, but your reactions to my fingers and tongue inside are truly exquisite. I love knowing I can make your toes curl and you whimper. Hmmm… it’s too bad I’m presently so far away. I’ll have to wait a little while longer to dip my tongue into you, to lick your most sensitive spots. I could be making you hard right now, taking your cock in my mouth, sucking you down. But alas here I am and there you are…_

Desire filled him, insistent and pleasurable albeit more than a little frustrating since he couldn’t share it with Julian. However, there was no point in letting it go to waste, he decided as he wet his forefinger with his own mouth and caressed the opening to his sheath and thought about his lover. His pulse quickened and soon he was firmly gripping his very hard sex—rubbing and squeezing and thumbing the tip as he moaned softly in the empty bedroom. Though Julian wasn’t around to witness the havoc he had wreaked on his lover’s self-control, he would’ve been pleased by the results.

 


	2. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian arrives back at the station much to Garak's delight.

Julian didn’t just greet Garak with his usual sweet smile and a hug, but a full kiss on the mouth. Not to the point of public impropriety, but a real kiss all the same. Garak had never been particularly comfortable with large public displays of affection – he generally didn’t move beyond the realm of flirting when there were prying eyes about, but at that moment he found he really didn’t mind.

He pulled Julian tightly to him, burying his face in his shoulder and deeply breathing in his familiar scent. “It’s very good to see you, my dear.” he said, loosening his grip.

“Same here. It feels like I’ve been gone forever.” He replied. “I missed you.”

He gently pressed a hand to Julian’s cheek, and the young man tilted his head slightly to discretely kiss his palm. The look in his dark eyes and small smile held such promises that Garak’s breath hitched.

 * * *

“You actually got your pants hemmed?” Keiko asked.

“Yes I did. They’ll be ready today or tomorrow.” Miles replied with as much dignity as he could muster. He would rather have let the matter drop and thought that Keiko had forgotten about it anyway.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? You survived.”

He shook his head. “Yes, yes it was that bad.” He paused thoughtfully for a moment. “He did seem a bit out of sorts – I think he’s missing Julian.”

“I’m sure he is. That would be a perfectly normal reaction to have when you’re partner’s away.” She pointed out. “See, it’s not one sided.”

Miles regarded his wife with a steady expression. “No, it seems to be, ah, genuine. However, that does not change the fact that Garak is shady as hell, and Julian is crazy. And I would really prefer not to have Cardassians with sharp objects anywhere near me.”

“Did you get stuck with a pin?" Keiko was trying very hard not to laugh at her husband.

“No, just doesn’t seem wise somehow. I’m going to color with Molly now.” And with that, he rose, straightened himself up and went to sit beside his daughter and ignored the sound of his wife trying to muffle her laughter.

 * * *

“I got the message you wrote me.” Garak said. They were now standing in their quarters, Julian’s bag set down by the door and forgotten.

“You found it entertaining?” Julian asked as he kissed Garak on the mouth, his tongue delicately tasting his lips.

Garak cupped Julian’s face in his hands, his thumbs stroking the Human’s cheeks and jaw. “My dear, I’m not sure ‘entertaining’ is a word that truly encompasses how I felt about it.” He planted several little kisses around Julian’s mouth. “However, it is a bit unfair to excite your lover so when you aren’t here to ah, help him.” He raised his eye ridges, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. He slipped his hands down to the younger man’s slim waist as Julian’s hands roamed over his shoulders and chest.

“So you _were_ touching yourself.” He smirked, nuzzling against the Cardassian’s neck.

“I’m afraid I had no choice, love. You were not here, and I was most painfully aroused.” Garak mock protested. “While my hands are a poor substitute for your lovely mouth, when needs must…” he trailed off and gave Julian’s rump a firm pat.

The mental image Julian formed from this brought his sex the rest of the way to attention, and he made a soft sound of desire, his body suddenly hot and trembly. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have seen _that_.” He pressed his lower body firmly against Garak’s. 

The Cardassian rolled his hips causing a whimper to escape Julian who was now plastered tightly to him. “Well, I will make sure to oblige you sometime.” He breathed into his ear. He slowly, teasingly, unzipped Julian’s Federation issued jumpsuit managing not to voice his well known disapproval of the garment, and slid his hands inside.

“Oh, yes.” he murmured at the feel of Garak’s hands on his bare skin as they slid under his shirt and caressed his bare hips and lower back. He tilted his head and parted his lips for a kiss and was duly rewarded as Garak’s tongue filled his waiting mouth. Presently, grey fingertips brushed across his belly and then the wonderful hands slid beneath the waistband of his underwear to rub and squeeze his bottom.

“That’s _nice_.” Julian sighed between kisses and busied his fingers with struggling to undo the clasps of Garak’s tunic. It was really a lovely suit, but under the circumstances, extremely frustrating as well.

“Having trouble?” Garak inquired, his voice tinged with amusement as Julian made an annoyed noise.

“I can’t… you’d think with the way these fasten that you didn’t _want_ me to undress you.”

Garak chuckled and removed his hands from Julian’s body to unfasten his top. “My dear, as if I would ever want to keep you out. Better now?” He let the garment slide off and gently tossed it onto the sofa.

“Much.” the Human appreciatively ran his hands over the broad shoulders – even if Garak (by his own admission) was not as fit as he had been in his younger days, remnants of that strength were still clearly visible in his shoulders and chest. And of course, Julian could personally attest to how ridiculously fast the Cardassian could pin him to the bed. His hands then slid down to rub over his much softer belly with its smooth scaleless skin and little layer of fat, enjoying the contrast as he licked the spoon shape on his sternum. A quiver ran through Garak’s body, and Julian smiled into his chest in response.

The jumpsuit was pushed off his shoulders and down over his hips to puddle around his ankles leaving him with just the turtleneck, underwear and a very obvious erection. If Julian had been concentrating on appearance, he would’ve said he looked ridiculous at that moment. Though his mind was too much taken up with how much he enjoyed being touched and all the possibilities Garak’s body presented to notice. Garak on the other hand thought he looked lovely – flushed and disheveled, his briefs doing absolutely nothing to hide his arousal. He thought how nice Julian’s sleek bare thighs would feel wrapped around his waist, and he gently stroked up and down their smooth length with the backs of his fingers, bringing his hand up to gently cup Julian’s balls making the other man moan softly and bite down on the neck scale he had been sucking on.

“My dear, we are going to bed now.” He announced, hefting Julian up. The Human quickly wrapped himself around Garak and decided that now was a good time for his tongue to become better acquainted with the Cardassian’s chufa.

Julian soon found himself deposited on the bed and he sat back and watched Garak strip off his trousers. He eagerly took in his lover’s form, now fully bared and uninterrupted by unnecessary articles of clothing. He admired the sweep of his neck ridges, the patterns his scales made, the differing textures that made up his body, and of course his thick cock now free of it’s protective sheath. Julian stripped off his few remaining pieces of clothing with some haste, gasping as the fabric of his underwear caught against and rubbed his excited sex.

He reached for Garak, and the Cardassian eased down on to the bed, pushing Julian back and down. Julian wrapped his legs around him, filled with a sudden fierce joy at being able to hold him there in a fully body hug, nothing between them – just skin and scales on skin. Garak gazed down at him with a pleased expression and after thoroughly kissing his mouth, set to work on his neck. Julian assumed that the seeming fascination with that area of his body was something near instinctive considering what a sensitive bit of anatomy the neck was on Cardassians. Though he lacked the scales, he still found it very pleasant to have his neck sucked and nipped. He even rather liked the bruises that Garak inevitably left in his wake – they were physical proof of how much Julian was desired. He could get rid of them if he had to, but the turtleneck that went with his uniform typically covered his partner’s handiwork.

“You are wonderful.” Julian breathed out as he lightly raked his nails over Garak’s back and down his sides.

The Cardassian lifted his head and placed a kiss on his chin. “Thank you. Flattery is always welcome lovely boy.” He shifted his weight so he could free up a hand to play with one of Julian’s nipples making him gasp and squirm, the wriggling motion rubbing his body against Garak’s cock. He let out a rumbling sound of pleasure and reached for the bottle of lube.

 * * *

Garak gasped into Julian’s shoulder. The lean body underneath him was heated and damp, and he could taste the Human’s salt tang as he sucked at the bare brown skin. He thrust deeply into his lover’s body. _Ah yes, that’s the right spot._ He thought muzzily – Julian cried out, his limbs tightened about him, his body bucking upwards making it clear that Garak was doing his job well. _Of course when one’s job is so pleasant as this…_. Indeed, Julian’s body gripped his sex tightly in a hot slick grasp sending waves of pleasure and heat rolling through him.

Garak squeezed his eyes shut tight. Normally he liked to watch Julian, to see his reactions as they made love, but at the moment it was too much. All he could focus on was the way he felt, the way Julian’s body felt under and around him. He moaned softly and sucked another bruise into the Human’s soft, and by Cardassian standards, delicate neck as their bodies moved together vigorously. Julian’s little whimpers and cries blending with Garak’s grunts and moans.

Julian suddenly gasped, his body spasming as warm wetness splashed between them. His climax heightened Garak’s arousal even more, if that was possible, and he picked up his pace, continuing to thrust for several minutes longer before he came and collapsed panting on top of Julian. He rested that way for a little while with his love gently stroking his hair. Finally he gently disentangled himself from Julian, his sex retreating back to it’s safe warm home to sleep. He knew he should get up and shower so he could accomplish something that afternoon, but what was the harm in lying abed with Julian when he hadn’t had the pleasure of so much as embracing the young man in nearly two weeks. He allowed himself a half an hour before dragging himself up reluctantly. Julian stirred drowsily.

“You don’t have to get up. I’m just going to clean up and spend a few hours working. I’ll regret it tomorrow if I don’t.” He patted Julian on one boney hip. “You however, could probably use some relaxation.”

“In that case, I won’t.” He yawned. “At least, not yet.”

 * * *

Julian was good on his word and drowsed comfortably drifting in and out of sleep as he listened to the familiar sounds of Garak moving around their shared quarters. Finally he started to feel a bit guilty just lying in bed all day, and got moving. A shower and some clean clothes – casual items this time since he had the rest of the day off. Garak had made him the shirt insisting that the color looked nice against his skin. Julian suspected Garak of attempting to curtail his sartorial disasters by slowly replacing all his clothes without him realizing it. Not that he could complain, considering how nice the soft fabric felt against his skin and how well it fit his long lean frame.

He was in the middle of looking for a book to read – preferably non-Cardassian, something fun and light that Garak would find appalling – when the door chimed. It turned out to be Miles on the other side with a pair of pants slung over his arm.

“I wasn’t going to bother you,” he said as he stepped through the door. “But since Garak was working, I figured you’d be um, unoccupied.” A pause, then, “I had to pick up my pants.”

“Ah, pants, ok.” Julian replied sitting down on the sofa with his legs curled up underneath him. “And no, I’m not busy. I was taking a nap and figured I’d better get up before I lost too much of the day.”

“Lucky you. Yesterday was my day off and I spent it getting my pants hemmed, chasing Molly around and doing chores.” He paused looking slightly discomfited. “Um, before you go out anywhere you may want to…” His voice trailed off and he pointed at his neck.

Julian regarded him with a puzzled expression for a long moment. “Huh? Oh! Right!” He clapped a hand over his neck and felt his cheeks flush. “I forgot I wasn’t wearing my uniform – the turtleneck usually covers those up.”

Miles held out a hand to stop him from any further elaboration. “That’s ok, Julian. Just thought you might want to know.” The awkward pause only lasted a few seconds. “He seems like he’s in a lot better mood today. Garak, that is. He seemed to be missing you.” He said gruffly.

Julian’s face softened. “The feeling was mutual.”

“Anyway, I guess it’s nice to see this thing is mutual. Though if he does anything to hurt you…” Miles waggled a finger in a way that was supposed to be threatening, but only caused Julian to fight back a laugh.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I think I’ll be ok.” He grinned.

“Well, I did have a reason for stopping by besides saving you from embarrassment. Darts tonight after my shift?” he asked standing up.

“Sure, sounds great.”

“It’s good to have you back.” Miles said as he left.

“It’s good to be back.” Julian murmured in reply.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miles may never really like Garak, but he is getting better -- sort of.


End file.
